The West was stunned when the Soviet Union dropped its first atomic bomb
in August 1949 and a year later the Korean War showcased Russia's
incredible technological progress in the form of the MiG-15 - a fighter
capable of besting anything the RAF had to offer at that time. In the
wake of the Second World War, funding for the RAF's Fighter Command had
fallen away dramatically but now there was an urgent need for new jet
fighters to meet the threat of Russian bombers head-on. Britain's top
aircraft manufacturers, including Hawker, English Electric, Fairey,
Vickers Supermarine, De Havilland, Armstrong Whitworth and Saunders-Roe,
set to work on designing powerful supersonic aircraft with all-new
guided missile systems capable of meeting a Soviet assault and shooting
down high-flying enemy aircraft before they could unleash a devastating
nuclear firestorm on British soil.
The result was some of the largest, heaviest and most powerful fighter
designs the world had ever seen - and a heated debate about whether the
behemoths should be built at all as guided weapons became ever more
advanced. This is the story of Britain's secret cold war fighter jet
designs, fully illustrated with a host of drawings, illustrations and
photographs.